March 25-31, 2017
We explored Dublin for a weekend, before renting a car and heading out to the countryside to find our respective ancestors’ homelands.
With the help of friendly pub patrons and online Census records, we were able to find Joe’s paternal grandmother’s Irish farm. The dugout she was raised in is now a calf pen and the “new” house has been abandoned for several decades. A gentleman farmer with 14 head of cattle offered to sell the plot back to us!
Using the Heritage & Genealogy Centre in Sligo, we discovered church records showing where Sarah’s great-great-grandfather and his brothers were tenant farmers before immigrating to Canada. We noted how similar the surrounding lands look to Grey County where he settled in the New World. The snow is heavier in the Great Lakes region, so that would have been a devastating surprise in the early years of pioneering in Canada.
Where in the world are the Gills? 